Stimulating Lawyers’ Incomes

As a lawyer, I am generally happy to see my fellow lawyers make money. But do they really need help from the government to do it, in the form of “stimulus” payments? I didn’t think my opinion of Obama’s “stimulus” program could fall any lower until I saw this:

An international law firm, which gave substantial political donations to President Obama and fellow Democrats over the last three campaign cycles, received its own significant stimulus award to advise on a controversial Department of Energy loan transaction with a struggling electric vehicle manufacturer.

Did you have any idea that stimulus money was going to Wall Street law firms? I didn’t. This appears to be another example of the Obama administration’s corrupt cronyism in action:

According to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, employees of the law firm gave $199,944 to Sen. Barack Obama for his 2008 presidential campaign, compared to $9,650 for Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Over the last three congressional election cycles (two cycles for the presidency, including this year), Debevoise staff members have donated $746,535 to Democrat candidates and political committees, including $284,420 to the Obama campaign. In contrast, Republican candidates and their support groups received $57,451 from employees of the law firm. Debevoise’s media relations manager, Suzanne Elio, is a former Democratic National Committee fundraiser, and top lawyer David Rivkin reportedly served on President Obama’s National Finance Committee, even hosting a fundraiser for presidential candidate Obama in his home in 2007.

As of 2010, the average Debevoise partner earned $2.06 million. I don’t begrudge them a penny of it, but in a sane world does the federal government pay them $1.8 million to facilitate an unbelievably stupid and corrupt waste of taxpayer money? And then call it a “stimulus?” I don’t think so.